Anna Bijns
Even while as a woman she was denied membership of a local chamber of rhetoric, she was able to publish her works and find widespread recognition for her literary talent among her contemporaries.
In the religious conflicts of her time she chose the side of the Catholic Church and expressed in her poems sharp criticism of the teachings of Martin Luther.
This was a society of lovers of literature common in the Low Countries, which organised poetry recitations and staged theatre performances.
Afterwards, the remaining family members settled in a house called "De Patiencie" in the Keizerstraat, which the mother had purchased from her part of the inheritance.
The court decided that Anna would be allowed to receive the rent on the family's properties, but would not inherit any further real estate.
[3] She was forced to leave for a smaller house, "Het Roosterken", opposite her old address, which was provided to her by the chaplain of the Cathedral of Antwerp.
Bijns' anti-Lutheranism fitted perfectly in the Franciscans' own propaganda war against Luther's teachings which they waged through literature in the vernacular.
[2] Anna Bijns wrote refreinen (refrains), a specific form of poem that was popular with the rhetoricians of her time.
[2] The oeuvre of Bijns has been transmitted through three poetry collections published in Antwerp in respectively 1528, 1548 and 1567 and through unpublished manuscripts.
Her first book was published by the Antwerp printer Jacob van Liesvelt with a very long title: "Dit is een schoon ende suverlijc boecxken / inhoudende veel scoone constige refereinen / vol scrifturen ende doctrinen / van diveerscen materien / na uutwisen der regelen / als hier int register na volgen / seer wel gemaect vander eersame ende ingeniose maecht / Anna Bijns subtilic en retorijckelic / refuterende inder warachticheit alle dese dolingen ende grote abusyen comende uut de vermaledide Lutersce secte.
De welcke niet alleene van allen doctoren ende universiteyten mer ooc vander keyserlijcke maiesteyt rechtverdelijc gecondemneert is" (This is a beautiful and sincere book / containing many beautiful and artful refrains / full of scriptures and doctrines / on various topics / after banning the rules / as are set out in the index below / very well made by the honorable and ingenious maiden / Anna Bijns subtly and rhetorically / refuting in truthfulness all those errors and great mistakes coming from the damned Lutheran sect, which have been justly condemned not only by all doctors and universities, but also by his imperial majesty).
This has been explained by the fact that the book sold so well that it had to be published a second time, perhaps in a great hurry, so that a colophon with the exact same date was copied.
[2] Nuyts published the second book of Anna Bijns with the title: "Het tweede Boeck vol schoone ende constighe Refereynen / vol scrifturen ende leeringhen / van menigherhande saken / na uutwijsen der regulen die hier int register navolghen / seer subtijlijck ende Rethorijckelijck ghemaeckt vander eersame ende verstandighe maecht Anna Bijns / seer treflijck straffende alle Ketterijen ende dolinghen van desen onsen tijde" ((This is the second book full of beautiful and artful refrains / full of scriptures and doctrines / on various matters / after banning the rules as are set out here in the index below / very subtly and rhetorically made by the honorable and ingenious maiden Anna Bijns / very aptly castizing all heresies and errors of our time).
Daer boven die warachtighe, oorsake vander plaghen groot die wy voor ooghen sien, met veel scoone vermaninghe, totter duecht, bewijsende dat een oprecht gheloove, met een nieu leven in Christo is, den rechten wech.
Om Gods toorn van ons te keeren / hier pays te vercrighen / ende hiernamaels het eewich leven / ghemaect met grooter const / door die eerwerdige Godvruchtige Catholijcke / ende ser vermaerde maghet Anna Bijns / in den oprechten Gheest Christi / seer hooghe verlicht woonende binnen Anwerpen / en die Jonckheyt instruerende in het oprechte Catholijck gheloove" ('A very beautiful and sincere book, explaining the power of God, and Christ's grace with respect to the sinful people.
To turn God's wrath from us / obtain peace here / and eternal life in the hereafter / made with great artfulness / by that honorable god-fearing Catholic / and very famous maiden Anna Bijns / who in the true spirit of Christ / lives very enlightened in Antwerp / and who teaches young people the true Catholic faith').
It praises the omnipotence of God and the grace of Christ and at the same time encourages its readers to change their ways by acting virtuously to combat the problems (plagues) with which they are confronted.
[4] In the 17th century there were numerous reprints of the published works of Anna Bijns sometimes with slightly different titles.
[1] The best-known thematic group is made up of virulently anti-Lutheran refrains, in which Luther and his followers are severely denounced as liars, cheats, seducers and earthly devils.
The poems are emotional and testify to the hatred, as well as the fear Catholics felt for the perceived threat of Protestantism.
The second thematic group of refrains are also anti-Lutheran in their intention, but differ from the first as they rely on theological arguments rather than invective to combat Lutheranism.
This group contains refrains in which she expresses her grievances about the state of the world and denounces all kinds of wrongs without referring to Lutheranism.
This group expands from the premise that everything used to be better, especially as contemporary people no longer live as piously and virtuously as before while they fail at the same time to recognise the error of their ways.
[2] The fourth thematic group is that of the refrains with theological advice in which Bijns advises her readers on what they should do in view of the sorry state of the world.
They poke fun at the monks who were expected to live a holy life but often fail to behave according to their monastic rules and often display coarse humour.
While these refrains are extremely funny Bijns also wrote them with a didactic goal in mind: she wanted to show that those who are unmarried can dedicate their lives entirely to God.
